Adrian Newey stuck to a good-natured ‘party line’ through his first proper interview since announcing his departure from the Red Bull Formula 1 team, but with enough of an acknowledgement that the turmoil around the squad in recent months weighed heavily in his decision.
Grinning throughout and regularly chuckling, Newey looked like a man firmly in control of his F1 destiny from here.
His chat with Sky’s Martin Brundle just before Miami Grand Prix sprint qualifying wasn’t a ‘breaking his silence’ moment as such given he’d been heavily quoted in Red Bull's press release announcing their split, but was the first time he’d been publicly quizzed by a member of the media since then.
He spoke glowingly of the “amazing ride” of his time at Red Bull and “tremendous honour” of working with everyone there.
Asked why he was leaving now, partway through another dominant season, Newey stuck to the ‘needing a break’ line that his manager Eddie Jordan had heavily pushed during his podcast with David Coulthard this week.
“Well, Formula 1’s all-consuming,” Newey began. “I’ve been at it for a long time now.
"2021 was a really busy year because of the tight battle with Mercedes through the championship and at the same time putting all the research and development into the [RB]18, which was the father of this generation of cars.
“Then, I don’t know, there comes a point where, as Forrest Gump said, I’m feeling a little bit tired.”
But when Brundle went more precise and asked Newey about the timeline of his decision, Newey's reference to “events” of 2024 had to be interpreted as confirmation that the furore at the team that followed the complaint raised against team principal Christian Horner had been a tipping point.
“A little while now, if I’m honest,” said Newey of how long he’d been considering leaving.
“I guess over the winter a little bit and then as events have unfolded this year I thought: 'I’m in the very lucky position where I don’t need to work to live. I work because I enjoy it.'
“And so I just felt that now was a good time to step back and take a bit of a break and take stock of life, and go travelling a bit.”
While the F1 paddock buzzes with discussions of which team will sign him for 2025, Newey mooted travelling through France in a motorhome with his wife Amanda and their dogs as his next plan. But he didn’t try too hard to hide the fact that he was up for another F1 team move.
“Maybe at some point, I don’t know when, I’ll be standing in the shower and will go ‘right, now this is going to be the next adventure’. But right now there’s no plan,” he said.
He replied “I do enjoy regulation changes, for sure” when Brundle suggested designing a car for the 2026 rules would appeal.
Ferrari is regarded as current favourite to sign Newey, and Brundle pointed out to Newey that 2025 Ferrari signing Lewis Hamilton made no secret of wanting the design legend there too.
“It’s too early, honestly,” said Newey of any such decision.
“It’s very kind of Lewis to say that, I’m very flattered.
“But at the moment it’s just 'take a little bit of a break and see what happens next'.”
